Concealed-Carry Saves Lives, Gun Advocates Say

In the wake of mass shootings this summer, a fusillade of a different sort erupted when gun-rights advocates suggested an audience member with a concealed weapon might have saved the day.

After gunman James Holmes opened fire in a crowded Aurora, Colo., theater, killing 12 and wounding 58, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, wondered whether an armed movie patron “could have stopped this guy more quickly.”

Later, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a staunch gun-control advocate, called Gohmert’s view “nonsensical.”

This exchange shows how far the gun debate has come since the days when it was centered on the simple question of whether firearms ownership is a Second Amendment right.

Now, in the aftermath of research suggesting state concealed-carry laws help reduce crime, gun advocates have a new mantra: Gun ownership is not only a constitutional right, it’s socially beneficial.

In Texas, this view has become as integral a part of the state’s heritage as cowboy boots, longhorns and chili.

“You cannot name a mass-shooting in this country that has occurred in a place where guns were allowed,” said former Texas legislator Suzanna Hupp, noting the Aurora theater prohibited customers from carrying guns.-[source]